We support people, teams and organisations to thrive in a complex and changing world.

We recognise that the world is changing, and with it, the workplace. Everywhere we look, we see new and emerging challenges to ‘business as usual’. From climate change, Artificial Intelligence, institutional challenges down to people’s attitudes about what to expect from work.

All this means is that predicting the future is becoming more challenging and equipping our workforce and leaders with the mindsets, behaviours, and skills necessary to meet those challenges.

The Skills Lab was founded in 2011 because we wanted to address these challenges within the education sector. We saw a distinct lack of attention placed on developing personal and interpersonal skills in schools - skills that are better predictors of success in life than just IQ and grades. Since then, we have grown and now primarily work with businesses, government bodies and charities - nationally and internationally - to provide bespoke solutions to workforce and organisation development.

We do this by providing learning and development consultancy that helps our client research, design, build, and implement meaningful learning experiences.

We are a UK-based team of educators, learning architects, coaches, facilitators, trainers, and community builders.

We draw on methodologies and inspiration from a wide range of areas, including instructional design, design thinking, neuroscience, mindfulness, developmental psychology, positive psychology, Theory U, and systems thinking to inform our sustainable approach to learning and the cultural changes needed to embed learning.

People and Partners

Pedram Parasmand

Co-Founder & Director

Pedram’s signature strength is using a multidisciplinary approach to cultures for learning, growth and powerful working relationships.

He has over 11 years experience working with executive teams to new entrants in the corporate, public, third and education sectors - nationally and internationally. Pedram has partnered with clients such as Accenture, Barclays Bank, Mind, Ministry of Justice, Red Bull, The European Union Commission, and The British Council. Previously, Pedram worked in Leadership Development at the education charity Teach First and started his career as a high school Science teacher.

Qualifications: Master Degree in Theoretical Physics from Imperial College, London | Qualified Organisation and Relationship Systems Coach with CRR | Qualified Professional Co-Active Coach | Social Presencing Theatre Foundation Certificate with the Presencing Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Graduate of the Co-Active Leadership Training Programme | Qualified teacher.

Affiliations: Fellow of the RSA | Member of the ICF.

Fun fact: Pedram was an outdoor education leader as part of the Duke of Edinburgh programme and would lead wilderness expeditions for inner-city teenagers. He is most at home on a bicycle and it is no surprise that he gets referred to as ‘Peddling Ped’.

Annemarie Estess

Senior Consultant & Coach

Annemarie’s signature strength is weaving the intellectual side of coaching and training work together with a real sense of ease and enjoyment. She works with people to shift their habits of thought and behaviour to support meaningful, sustainable changes.

She has worked in Learning and Development in different capacities for over 10 years in the public, private and third sector. Her recent training and facilitation work has focused on areas including new manager training, leadership for high-potentials, influencing, courageous conversations, presentations and public speaking, assertiveness, managing stress and improving resilience at work.

She has overseen learning experiences with clients such as Groupon, Match.com, Eventbrite, Stanford University, Liberty Mutual, Studio Blitz, Lyft, Box, Octopus Investments, and Just Eat. She serves as a Mental Health coach with Sanctus in the UK.

Qualifications: Master's degree in Sociology from Stanford University | Professional Certified Coach with the International Coach federation (ICF) | CPCC from the Co-Active Training Institute | Bronze Certified in Kirkpatrick Learning Evaluation Method | Graduate and assistant of the Co-Active Leadership Training Programme.

Affiliations: Member of the ICF

Fun Fact: Annemarie founded and ran a boutique dance coaching company in the Bay Area for over six years. She is now based in London and is adjusting to life of country walks, pubs and talking about the weather.

Neela Dolezal

Monitoring and Evaluation Lead

Neela’s signature strength is Theory of Change development in association with the design of effective Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) frameworks. She is experienced in leading organisations through a questioning process to establish their Vision, Mission, Theory of Change and Intended Impact. She believes M&E finds strength in simplicity.

Neela is also a qualified Maths teacher and practising theatre-maker. She has taught economics, maths and drama in schools across London. She has experience as a Head of Department for Business and Economics at an inner-city school and in coordinating whole-school approaches to mathematical enrichment and Health education.

Following three years working in the ‘Data and Impact’ team at Teach First, Neela has worked freelance as an evaluation consultant and data analyst for third sector clients such as Future First UK, Future First Global, Alcantara Communications and Help Refugees. She has also worked on curriculum design for clients such as SOAS, the ‘All of Us’ campaign, and RFK Human Rights UK.

Qualifications: Masters Degree in Development Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science | Qualified teacher of Mathematics from the Institute of Education, UCL.

Affiliations: Member of the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain.

Fun fact: Neela enjoys working on Excel, a skill she also puts to use in her theatre work. Neela has almost 20 years of experience working in both professional and community theatre, and a love of Excel has helped many a production run smoothly.

Chris Gerry

Co-Founder (retired)

Chris was a successful secondary headteacher in the UK building five new schools during his eighteen year tenure and introducing both new technologies and modes of learning. Since leaving teaching in 2011 and working with the Skills Lab he has undertaken projects around the world including China, Argentina, the USA, Greece, Germany, Cyprus, Latvia, France, Saudi Arabia… the list goes on. Chris has worked on innovative educational projects and training and undertaken research for the EU commission and Microsoft. In the UK he led a training programme with London Underground aimed at improving communication and saving costs amongst night construction workers. He has a particular interest in cost reduction and measurement of training outcomes.

Chris now has an emeritus status with the Skills Lab focussing on research and development with particular interest in training and cultural change within emerging economies

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